street" i was really a wall street insider. >> so, tracy says she may be protesting, again, if she could find a cause worth protesting. she says her co-workers there at the firm have embraced her. >> yeah, they want somebody who can think outside the box so they can make money. that's the whole point. chris knowles, nice to see you. let's head to atlanta and don lemon. >> good morning, ladies. you look just lovely. have a great rest of the day. >> thank you. >> you're quite welcome. newt gingrich's surge in the polls loilthi s lighting a firet romney. gingrich is now 15 points ahead of romney in a new gallup poll and mr. paul steinhauser joins us right now from washington. hello, paul. how does romney plan to handle what is shaping up to be a two-man race at this point? >> it really is shaping up. that was the national poll, don. take a look at this, state poll. iowa. two new polls in iowa.

one of them, cbs/"new york times." you adjust showed the national poll. newt gingrich ahead by double digits. the frontrunner, we're less than four weeks away from the iowa caucuses. what is mitt romney doing about all this? romney was speaking to reporters yesterday on the campaign trail and said he would be more forceful in going after newt gingrich and pointing out the differences where they stand on certain things and he also said, you'll see more of me. more interviews and more time on the campaign trail. he says after about a week from now when he finishes up some fund-raising, you'll see a lot more of mitt romney. four weeks to go until the first votes, don. >> so, seeing a lot more of newt gingrich, as well. he unveiled a new strategy for attacking romney, matter of fact. >> this is interesting, newt gingrich saying he is maybe one of the reasons why mitt romney got pretty wealthy. listen to what newt gingrich said on cnbc last night. >> you could make an argument that i helped mitt romney get to be rich. he should be thanking me because

i did the macroeconomic things necessary to make his career possible. >> gingrich talking about when he was congressman back in the 1980s speaker of the house in the '90s and maybe he helped romney. this was gingrich try to make a joke. stab at humor. >> he's responsible for a lot of things. thank you very much, paul steinhauser. we appreciate it. cnn has the best political coverage on television. make sure you stay with us all day with these interviews. congressman ron paul in the "cnn newsroom" at 3:00 p.m. eastern. and congresswoman michele bachmann will join john king's guest, 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn and then real estate mogul, debate moderator, that's right, debate moderator, you can add that to his resume, donald trump will join piers morgan at 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. our next political update in half an hour. for all the latest political

news, go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. other news now, a 19-year-old man claims former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky gave him whiskey then sexually abused him. an attorney for the accuser says the alleged incident happened on the penn state campus back in 2004 when the accuser was just 12 years old. joining us now to talk about this new development is patriot news reporter and cnn contributor, she has been covering this from the very beginning. right since it broke we had her on. sara gamin doing a great job. what does this new accuser say happened? >> this victim is now 19 years old and he was 12 at the time, this 2004 incident allegedly happened and he's now coming forward in the wake of this scandal. what he says happened is that he was a second mild child staying in the dorms of the second mile campus. was involved in a pool situation where kids were playing in a pool with jerry sandusky, was later separated from that group and taken on a tour by jerry

sandusky of the football building. now, a lot of other incidents have happened at that football building, but all of them have been alleged to have happened in a shower. this man is saying that he was taken to an office. he was given whiskey and he talked to sandusky about his life and how he ended up at the second mile and then he was assaulted before jerry sandusky took him back to the dorms. >> we know jerry sandusky has a number of charges against him already. with these new claims about sandusky, will additional charges be pressed against him, sara? >> don, that's hard to say. you know, there have been, by my account, five people have come forward since the initial charges were filed and made public allegations against jerry sandusky. they are, the majority of them, as far as we know, have also talked to the attorney general's office and given statements to police. however, it's hard to know if they are, if they are actually going to lead to charges. i think that next week when we get to that preliminary hearing we'll know a lot more because we'll know if, you know, if

jerry sandusky's attorneys say they'll definitely have that hearing. if more charges come, will they have another one down the line? you know, those are things that i think we'll know a better idea next week. >> sara ganim, thank you so much. we want to turn to the sexual abuse scandal at syracuse. the district attorney plans a news conference next hour to talk about the bernie fine investigation. syracuse fired the long-time assistant basketball coach after three men accused him of sexual abuse. two weeks ago the district attorney william fits patrick accused the police chief of mishandling the 2002 of molestation claims. syrian president bashar al assad defending himself against global criticism of his government's bloody crackdown on protesters. in an interview with abc he rejected reports that his troops are attacking civilians. >> there was no command to kill

or to be brutal. >> people went from houses to houses. children were arrested. i saw those pictures. >> to be frank, how did you know? we don't see this. so, it depends on what you hear in the united states. >> i saw reporters who brought back pictures. >> how did you verify those pictures? that's why we're talking about false allegations and distortion of reality. >> in other words, deny, deny, deny. let's bring in zain verjee now for more on this. he's disputing everyone else's claims and what the pictures show here, zain. >> that's exactly right. bashar al assad very defiant in that interview and sticking by what he says that he never ordered a crackdown. in fact, it's his troops and his supporters that died. listen to how he put it. >> we don't kill our people. nobody kill no government in the world. kill its people unless it's led

by israeli -- i became president because of the public support. it's impossible to follow in this state. >> do you feel guilty? >> i do my best, you cannot feel guilty when you try your best. >> u.s. has already reacted to this interview, don. the state department is saying this, that the spokesman mark turner put it, i find it ludicrous that he is attempting to hide behind some kind of shell game, but also some sort of claim that he doesn't exercise authority in his own country. and the point that he was making in the interview was essentially that he's the president, he makes policy, he doesn't control his troops, he doesn't control his forces. it's not his fault, which is why, he said, i don't feel guilty. >> zain verjee covering that for us, zain, thank you. today marks the 70th anniversary of the date that will live in infamy.

in just a few hours ceremonies will be held at pearl harbor, hawaii, to remember 2,100 people killed in the attack. next hour, we'll talk with jimmie kanaya a son of a japanese immigrant. he was sent to an internment camp after the attack later serving as a u.s. army medic. some travel delays to tell you about with snow and subfreezing temperatures gripping parts of the south this morning. folks in springfield, missouri, waking up to temperatures in the upper teens after the season's first snowfall yesterday. even parts of the southwest are seeing snowflakes and brutal temperatures that bottomed out below zero. already meteorologist rob marciano tracking the extreme weather for us. rob, not good this early. >> yeah, this is the second early season snowfall that we've seen across parts of the midsouth. check out some of these numbers. snowfall that happened in the last few hours.

south haven, that's just near memphis, 3 inches and last night in little rock and jonesboro they saw two inches of snow, as well. right now 26 in dallas and 23 degrees in el paso and 33 in houston and 52 in new york. a couple hours ago it was 60 degrees in new york city. the atmosphere is turned upside down and we'll change that. snowing in tupelo and snowing in nashville before too long and we do expect to see a couple more inches of snow with this winter weather advisory. now, there's your low and it gathers a little juice from the atlantic and this is what we expect to see for snowfall across the northeast. anywhere from four to eight inches. well away from new york city. two to four. well away from philly and washington and three to six well away from boston. but, we're also going to see a lot of rain with this before it turns over to snow. so, this afternoon, tonight, d.c., new york, going to be a

miserable rush and with little bit of flooding, as well. so, there's your forecast snowfall totals. not the devastating snow and ice storm that we saw a couple weeks ago that took out all the trees and powerlines, don. but, certainly another early season snowfall that is raising some eyebrows to say the least. >> 20 something in el paso. >> actually, even colder than that. in austin this morning 23 degrees and even southern california, those folks are feeling the chill. we'll get a little piece of that before too long. the northeast has been really mild and now winter has come. >> rob marciano, thank you very much, appreciate it. blago's big day. former illinois governor rod blagojevich is about to be sentenced for corruption and he could do some pretty hard time. the latest live from something coming up. you know the tv show "myth busters" is taping close by. when you come home to find gaping canonball holes in your home. apparently one of the stunts misfired. more on that, next.

quick look now at the news from across the country. indiana's attorney general is offering to money to victims of this stage collapse at the state fair. families of the seven people killed will get at least $300,000. the 61 survivors will get 65% of their medical expenses paid.

the stage collapsed after a storm hit during a sugarland concert. i want you to take a look at the holes in this house near oakland. you see them? they're from a canonball. how random is that? well, the reality show "myth busters" was taking a stunt nearby and apparently involved a canon and, obviously, didn't go as planned. luckily, though, no one was hurt. someone in spokane, well, dropped a big surprise in a red kettle. salvation army workers found a diamond ring wrapped up in a dollar bill. the ring is worth 5,000 bucks. moving on now. a tense morning for rod blagojevich. the former illinois governor is due in a federal court shortly to be sentenced on corruption charges. one of the crimes he was convicted of, trying to sell or trade the senate seat vacated by president obama. so, joining us now is natasha of the "chicago sun-times." he could technically get up to

30 years. is that likely? >> it's not likely. the judge said yesterday that, yes, technically, his crimes are so severe, he could face 30 years to life, but he also quickly said that he believed that that was inappropriate in the context of this case. prosecutors are asking for 15 to 20 years. at one point, defense lawyers had asked for probation. they did not other that word yesterday. they simply said, we just want the lowest sentence possible. i think everyone sort of sobered up here and realizing that this could be, you know, upward of ten years. >> so, he is going to get some time. he is going to go to prison? >> he is definitely going to prison. there's no question about it. tony rescoe got 10 1/2 years and that sort of shook his world when that happened. today he will be able to, the governor will finally be able to address the court and everyone still waiting to see how much, you know, mercy he asks for and

how sincere of an apology he offers to the judge. >> his appeal yesterday, we were told, very emotional. it involved his daughter. >> well, his daughters did not appear in court, but they wrote letters. the eldest daughter who is 15 wrote a letter just begging the judge to please show mercy. she will not be able to not handle her father being around. i need him for my high school graduation and need him when my heart gets broken. his lawyer described him as an extraordinary father who was extraordinarily close to both of his dotards, especially since he was ousted from his position. he hasn't been able to have a job. he has been spending a lot of time at home with them in the last couple of years. >> it's interesting because he's going to speak today and he's not really known as a humble figure, he says what's on his mind. much like donald trump. he says what's on his mind. his demeanor in the courtroom, does it give a sense of how he is going to be today, much more

humble that he normally is? >> i think we'll see a more humbled blagojevich. he is a fighter, but there has to be some part of him today that realizes that he has to show that side of him. it was just a very ominous day yesterday. he lost every single legal battle. he's got to be some part of his mind that knows, i have to apologize. i have to be humble now. he testified in front of this judge and the judge already said that he believes that he lied. he perjured himself. he really has an uphill battle here. if he wants to spend less than 20 years in prison, less than 15 years in prison. he's really got to step up to the plate today. >> natasha korecki from "chicago sun-times" we appreciate it. bad customer support, poor sound quality. these are just some of the complaints about the worst mobile phone carrier. we'll tell you who it is in just

a few minutes. plus, a simple night out at a concert becomes an international event. that's because it is prince william and kate and we're headed live to london. next.

when prince william and kate decide to spend a night out on the town cameras from around the world follow. that was the case last night as the duchess of cambridge had a chance to hear one of her favorite singers. cnn royal correspondent, i love that title, royal correspondent max foster joins us now from london with more. so, they're in the tabloids all the time. i guess they're like hollywood slen

celebrities like we would call here in the states. what was the occasion? >> to raise money for young people affected by the uk riots earlier this year, don. it was a big event. out with the in-laws for the duchess of cambrage as she arrived, actually, a lot of talk about her dress because this was a budget dress, $99 from zara and sold out within hours. a real sign of her selling power, really, don. she went into the concert and there's a band here in the uk called take that. she was a big fan and singing along to the music and a lot of the stars on stage were x-factor stars here from the uk and, apparently, we learned little later on that she watches it every saturday night. a little bit of insight into the private lives of the royals. >> okay. there's a question, so, did they stick around after the show? there's some socializing that happens usually. >> that's it. they were there, back stage. and this is when they were talking to those, the big stars

of the uk circuit. i think you'll recognize many of them. you can see they're mingling away and charles and camilla and this is where they're talking about how they love singing and the duchess is talking about how she's a big fan of "x-factor" and "take that." and the dress that she chose. these are modern-day royals in times of austerity and looking out for signs of pregnancy and no confirmation from that last night. although, a lot of people suggesting that she was covering her stomach up with a clutch bag. >> baby bump, as they call it, right? >> yeah, that's it. >> is she or isn't she? >> i don't know. no one knows. >> come on, you're the royal correspondent, max foster. you have to know these things. >> i know. when she goes quiet and we don't see her for a while, i think that will be the first indication. >> all right, max, all in good fun. appreciate it. all right, so, what do you

hate most about mobile phones? dropped calls or lousy customer service, actually, both, right. well, consumer reports is out with its latest ranking of the nation's biggest cell phone carriers. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. so, alison, any surprises here. i think i have an idea maybe. >> yeah, you know, i was surprised to hear that, you know, it's not the fancy phones or the cool features, you know like siri where the phone talks to you. no, no, no, none of that is important. you know what people want. people want customer service. they want good customer service and that's what kept verizon in the number one spot. if you look in the list, though. sprint, t-mobile, they come in right around the middle. guess what, at&t ranked dead last out of the major carriers for the second year in a row. why is this? at&t got the worst rating for value, voice quality, customer support, yikes. >> and dropped calls. >> and dropped calls. i could vouch for that.

>> yep. >> but at&t, don, says it's learning from this consumer reports survey. they claim they're doing better on the dropped calls that you mentioned, but a real tough year for at&t. in the middle of trying to buy t-mobile but the government has blocked that. at&t just not catching a break lately, don. >> oh, boy. let's turn to the market now. wall street has been doing pretty well over the past week or so because of the optimism about the meetings going on in europe, alison, is that carrying through in the markets today? they haven't opened yet, but is it carrying through? >> funny how things can change on a dime just like that. so, yeah, things were upbeat until about 25 minutes ago. a report came out saying that germany is saying no to a proposal that would, in effect, double the size of the bailout fund. sure, now we're expecting a weak open. even with the past creeping in, investors have some hopes that the eurozone leaders coming up with a comprehensive plan this week to tackle the debt issues

there. long-term and short-term solutions are expected. critics say, you know what we need? we need a big, concrete comprehensive plan this week and that's what investors are looking for. don? >> so, i have to ask you this because we're going to do it soon. you have a cell phone, i'm sure. do you do words with friends? >> yes. >> you do. >> i do words with friends. i heard alec baldwin got kicked off a flight for doing just that yesterday. it is on my twitter friend. >> i was going to ask you if it was you. but, oh, well. >> no, no. wasn't me, wasn't i. is that crazy, though? >> you were talking about customer service and just reminded me on your pda because, you know, you want phone calls, but you want to be able to play your games like angry birds and also words with friends. >> how loud did that game get that you get kicked off a flight? >> it's not loud. it's just like playing scrabble on your phone? >> how do you get kicked off your flight for playing that? >> we'll tell you that. you just have to tune in because

we'll cover that in entertainment in just a few minutes. thank you, alison kosik, we'll check back. also coming up, more about the missing u.s. spy drone. the u.s. claims it shot the drone down and the u.s. claims it went down because of technical failure. either way, this drone could be spilling its secrets. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003.

let's check your headlines. one american was among the dead in the bombing of a shiite shrine in kabul. one of two suicide attacks in afghanistan that killed 60 people yesterday. a 19-year-old man accuses former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky of giving him whiskey and then sexually abusing him. an attorney for the abuser said it happened on the penn state campus in 2004 when the accuser was 12 years old. there is a medicare open enrollment deadline today. medicare beneficiaries have until the end of the day to make changes to their prescription, drug or private health plans. do it today, if you can. iran claims it shot down a u.s. spy drone. officials in washington say it went down because its guidance system failed. either way, the drone's secrets might be out now. analysts say the technology could be in russian or chinese

hands. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has this report. >> reporter: when the u.s.'s newest stealth drone crashed on the wrong side of the border, it may have sparked a shopping spree for america's potential adversaries. >> i am guessing there were several people that tried to buy airline tickets to tehran from moscow and beijing over the last couple days. >> reporter: analyst peter singer says if the rq 170 is in tact, the iranians will give the drone to china, who could unlock its secrets and sell the completed technology back to iran. >> the chinese probably have one of the best technology gathering espionage services in the world, if not the best. >> reporter: retire air force general says the missing drone is faster, smarter and stealthier than commonly used drones like the predator. on radar, the sentinel comes across as being something other than what it actually is. >> they show up very briefly, if

at all. they show up, perhaps in something that could be disguised in let's say a flock of birds or something like that or another type of aircraft. >> reporter: the sentinel flew surveillance over osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. military officials say if the drone's technology is compromised, other nations will likely des have better defenses against it. >> and if they emulate us, we will find it much more difficult to go after them and to go after their defenseess essdefenses, a assets they're trying to protect. in the case of iran, that will be their nuclear weapons systems. >> there he is, chris lawrence joins us live. chris, we're now hearing the u.s. believes a drone was badly damaged. if so, how much can iran really do with it? >> yeah, don, i mean, it all sounds far fetched if there's nothing left there, but a few small fragments, right? but, remember this. one of the u.s.'s first stealth planes crashed and was shot down over serbia back in 1999.

balkan military officials say chinese agents came in and bought some of the pieces from the local farmers. when china unveiled its own stealth plane earlier this year, a lot of experts saw some elements of american technology in that plane. >> what sort of mission was this drone on when it went down, chris? >> yeah, u.s. officials telling us that this was a cia-controlled mission and it was strictly to look for insurgents on the afghanistan side of the border. no mission to spy into iran from the drone. but some experts question that. they have some doubts because they say this particular drone is designed to fly where reapers and predator drones can't, where there's enemy air defenses that could detect them. so, some of the experts i've spoken with have said, well, why would you need a drone like this in afghanistan where there are no enemy air defenses?

>> well, chris lawrence, thank you very much. appreciate your reporting. the secretary of state hillary clinton recently got back from a recent to myanmar and offered its government money to offer reforms. the first time that u.s. secretary of state had been to that nation in 50 years when it was called burma. the u.s. and other countries have imposed sanctions against myanmar and its military government for years because of human rights abuses. it's considered one of the secretive and corrupt nations on the planet. but this visit could signal a change. jill dougherty made that trip, too. jill, the question is, is myanmar about to open up? >> well, you know, many people believe that. and this administration, obviously, having hillary clinton, the secretary of state going there is a symbol that they really do believe that things are changing. now, there are a lot of caveats. you know, we think this is happening. it looks that way and there have been signs. you know, the president is a

person who actually has been taking some steps. now, the most recent right after hillary clinton was leaving allowing protests, things like that, reaching out to some of the rebel groups from the ethnic groups for the first time. and, so, the other thing i think you'd have to say, don, if it didn't get the blessing of democracy icon of that country. she got the nobel peace prize and she was under house arrest, as we remember, for almost two decades. she said she believes it's legitimate that the president does want to open up. so, she said, let's do this. and the u.s. listened to what she was saying. >> so, you saw democratic ablthivist aung san suu kyi and what was it like to see her in person at the house where she was seeing house arrest? >> you see some of the pictures i took right there. it was really pretty amazing

because she's a very interesting person just to watch. she has a certain gentleness about her. but she also has this, you know, spine of steel because after all, when she was under house arrest and, you know, really condemned by the military hunted that ruled that country from 1962 until just last year, it was pretty tough. but she managed to get through that and she's really revered. i'd have to say, almost like a saint in a way, but she's tough and she bonded with hillary clinton. it was a lot of fun and very interesting to watch them together. >> those are your pictures. pictures that you took on this trip. i got to ask you, this country is so isolated, what did you see there in the capital? did you see nice new buildings, the roads, infrastructure, schools, that sort of thing. what did you see? >> it is a mind-warping experience because the capital, which is a little hard to find sometimes on a map, but it's a new capital that was built and

the closest thing is it reminds me kind of pyongyang, north korea, because it is remote and it was built kind of as a new city with big, long roads and nobody around. the picture, by the way, that you're looking at now is the much more beautiful side of burma or myanmar and that is a wonderful, old city and as we went to the pagoda, just look at that picture. it's spectacular. that is the potential. the potential is, this used to be the jewel of that part of the world. and it could be, again, that they have enormous problems. it's just the beginning of perhaps some major, major changes in that country. >> you know how it is here, we are out of time. but i have to ask you this question. what does this mean for secretary of state hillary clinton. her abilities as secretary of state if myanmar does open up

and this would be quite a feather in her cap, wouldn't it? >> it would. it would really be an important move because ultimately that is an important country, although it is cut off. it has to do with china and a lot of things. you could say that we might be witnessing the birth of a new policy, a new relationship with burma. but, also, i think, don, really fast. it is interesting to see hillary clinton not only as secretary of state, but as a former politician dealing with aung san suu kyi because she's participating in the elections and that side of hillary clinton is also interesting to watch how she can talk and talk turkey sometimes with other politicians. >> fascinating stuff, jill dougherty. the pictures are great. thank you so much, we appreciate it. two huge companies that manage your prescription drug benefits could become one giant firm. coming up, we'll find out if that merger could be good for

you. and the new list of rock 'n' roll hall of fame inductees out now. guns n roses make the final cut. find out who makes the cut next in your "showbiz headlines." i'm trystern eaten. president and creative director of thunder dogs. basically the perfect example of what i love about doing commercial art and collaborating with brands. i was contacted by the obama campaign and i ended up creating three posters for the vote for change campaign to be able to be involved formally to do something official was so cool because it feels like you're making a piece of history. [ male announcer ] sometimes a hint

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alec baldwin is certainly no stranger to off-screen

controversies and now we have yet another. this time he is kicked off an airplane for apparently refusing to stop playing a game on his cell phone. we get the rest of the story now from entertainment correspondent kareen wynter. kareen, i kind of know what happened and i'm trying to reset my angry bird password, my word with friends password so i can't challenge alec a game until i get this done. what the heck happened? >> this is a guy, don, who obviously takes his game playing seriously. so, what if he holds up an entire flight? alec baldwin wasn't ready to stop playing words with friends, which is similar to scrabble while he was on an american airlines flight that was set to leave lax. a flight attendant told baldwin to turn off his electronic devices which would have, of course, ended his game and he refused and was forced to get off the plane. baldwin, a man of many words, we all know that. he fired off a tweet, don. ready for this?

he tweeted flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing words with friends while we sat at the gate, not moving. no wonder american is bankrupt. later tweeted out a friend with the hash tag, always united. doesn't seem to be any fallout from this. american airlines booked him on another flight a short time later. he tweeted out a few less than nice things about american airlines employees. our own brooke baldwin tweeted alec later about words with friends and he responding saying it's addicting, i guess he couldn't help himself here. could you just imagine holding up an entire flight because you wanted to have a little fun with your words with friends. >> i'm not even going to go there. oh, gosh. moving on. the final -- >> you're speechless, that never happens, don. >> that never, ever happens. i always turn it off exactly when they say turn it off.

>> you have to. so, the final rock 'n' roll hall of fame list is out this morning. any surprises? >> no real surprises. includes some of your favorites, don, i know that because we recently attended a party together and, guess what, they played some of these tunes. the red hot chili peppers, beastie boys, and the british invasion group the small faces, which at one point, included rod stewart. the final decisions here on this class into the rock 'n' roll had to be really tough. among the acts left out, cure, heart and joan jett and the black harts. the induction ceremony, don, will take place in cleveland, ohio. >> there's always next year. thank you. >> of course. >> appreciate it, kareen. coming up next hour, we all

knew dr. sanjay gupta's life as a surgeon. kareen has that story next hour in your "showbiz headlines."

taking you across country now. wintry weather made it tough for some getting around parts of missouri yesterday. the season made roads treacherous, to say the least. creating fender benders, wrecks, sending some vehicles sliding

off highways. no freezing temperatures are needed for seattle's newest outdoor skating rink. get this, it's not made of ice. it's made of polyurethane. it is opened through christmas eve. all right, so, engineering students at the university of nebraska at lincoln have an assignment that they can really sink their teeth into. design a car that is edible. the ingredients range from cookie dough to whole sweet potatoes. now, that sounds like a yummy assignment. two of the biggest companies that handle prescription drug benefits would like to merge. the firms are medco and express scripts. the question we're asking is, will the $26 billion merger be good for you? elizabeth cohen is here. $26 billion. good for consumers? what did you find out? >> it depends on who you ask. it's an important question because if you're not on one of these two programs, you probably know someone who is. that's how big these programs are.

so, the folks at consumer reports think this is bad for consumers because whupdz when you have a merger and you have one company with that much business, you cut down on competition and it's economics 101, you know, prices will go up. now, these two companies say it's going to be terrific because you'll create all sorts of efficiencies and prices will go down. so, depends who you ask. >> so, you know, you're all about empowering patients. how can patients become empowered when it comes to prescriptions or saving money? >> whether you go through medco or express scripts, there's specific things you need to do to save money on prescription drugs. i'll give you one tip right now. when the doctor hands you a prescription, he has no idea how much it costs. he doesn't know, right? >> he's just writing it. you go to the pharmacy and you get the sticker shock. ask the pharmacist to call the doctor's office and see if there is another drug that will work for and see if there's another drug that will work but is less expensive.

i've done it. it works. it won't always work, but it often works. if you go to cnn.com/empowerpatients, you can see tips. >> been there, done that. what? how much? couple of pills. thank you. appreciate it. high school quarterback runs for a touchdown. a hand gesture costs him the score and a perfect season. sports in a few minutes. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

look at some of the storeris that will be making headlines later today. at 12:55 eastern a moment of silence will be observed on the 70th anniversary on the attack on peril harbor.

a service will be conducted at u.s.s. arizona for all the people that died that day. at 2:30 eastern in washington john grisham testifies. later that hour president obama welcomes steven harper to the white house. we're following lots of developments in the next hour on cnn. let's check in first with paul steinhauser. he is live in washington. >> hey, don, as newt gingrich source in the polls in the g.o.p. race. what does former front runner mitt romney do? details at the top of the hour. >> i'm ted rowlands. in downtown chicago in just a few hours former illinois governor rod blagojevich finds out how long he'll have to spend in prison. >> i'm rob marciano, out west record breaking cold. it snowed in little rock, it snowed in memphis this morning. meanwhile, 60 degrees and raining in new york.

detailed forecast in the next hour. all right. thank you, guys. also next hour remembering pearl harbor. we'll talk with a world war ii veteran and a son of japanese immigrants. he was treated as an enemy after the attack but went on to serve with distinction.

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com 2011 is almost over. we want you to help us pick the top ten stories of the year.

go to this website. take part in our online poll between now and november 15th. the top ten stories of the year will be unveiled on air and online on december 30th. big play time. basketball's hot stove league is really heating up over a super star's future. hot stove? >> it just means guys who are thinking about switching to another team. there could be trades. right now we're talking about baseball's biggest slugger. will he stay with the st. louis cardinals? albert pujols suddenly considering taking the free agent cash from the miami marlins. whoever gets him will have to pay over $200 million. pujols' agent says his client needs some time to consider the offers and the cubs appear to

have jumped into the sweep stakes. the once budget conscience marlins are talking to jose reyes. orlando magic want to keep their big star so bad they called howard. he called howard at 1 a.m. after having a few and told howard how much the organization loves him. we love you. vander wide says he's stepping down but it's not necessarily reelgted to the incident. howard will be a free agent after this season. college hoops the classic at madison square garden. madison and market. alley-oop. terrance ross, look at this. that is fantastic. this is great. second half, marquette's jae crowder from the corner for three, gets it. washington could not come back with an answer and marquette

holds on 79-77, 8-0. high school football, this is crazy. massachusetts 4 a super bowl. state championship. the quarterback, he ran for what's looking like the game-winning touchdown. now watch as he gets to about the 20 yard line. he knows it. this is huge. he raises his arm celebrating. he gets penalized for celebrating, unsportsman like conduct. no touchdown. cathedral never got near the end zone again. lost out on a perfect season. it's a new rule for high school football in massachusetts banning any celebration of the touchdown. so the play got taken back, another 15 yards. cathedral couldn't score after that. his dad told the boston herald, he goes to a catholic school. he was celebrating, god, reaching up to the sky. >> they have emotion. cheer leaders, that's why they have cheerleaders in the stands. >> could not have been a bigger

moment for this guy. >> come on, guys. rethink that. >> the player feels bad. >> they should change that. top of the hour, we're going to start this hour by talking some politics. there's less than a month until the first votes are cast and newt gingrich is the new man on top is mitt romney ready to reboot his campaign? gingrich is is the comfortable frontrunner. 15 points ahead. paul steinhauser joins us. paul, how is the romney campaign readjusting? >> it is a whole new world. we've seen so many people go up and down. as you show, the national pole has gingrich as the frontrunner. iowa, two polls out in the last 24 hours. take a look at this one. this is from cbs "new york times," romney 14 points behind gingrich in iowa. same story in a lot of other early voting states. a lot of people in these polls say they may be changing their

minds with four weeks to go to the iowa caucuses. as you asked, what's romney doing? he talked to reporters yesterday on the campaign trail in arizona. he said a couple of things. he'll be more aggressive in pointing out the differences between himself and gingrich. he also said once he's done some fundraising in the next few days you'll see more of him. >> paul, romney isn't the only republican targeting newt. who else is going after him? >> when you're the frontrunner now, you come under a lot more scrutiny and attack. check out this brand-new ad by ron paul. >> you want to put people in jail? let's look at the politicians who created the environment, the politicians who brought the environment. >> newt gingrich on the defense for taking $1.5 million. >> there you g ron paul's new ad pointing out that newt gingrich took some money from freddie mac, fannie mae, consulting

money. no surprise it's in a new ron paul ad. you'll see more of that over the next four weeks. >> and a lot more over the next year. a ton of it. we'll be covering it. thank you, paul steinhauser. cnn has the best political coverage on television. stay with us all day for these interviews. congressman ron paul will be in the "cnn newsroom" at 3 p.m. eastern. newt gingrich and texas governor rick perry will join wolf blitzer in "the situation room." congress wam michele bachmann will be a guess at 6 p.m. eastern. donald trump joins piers morgan at 9 p.m. eastern. a 19-year-old man claims former penn state football coach gave him whiskey and then sexually abused him. an attorney says the alleged incident happened in 2004 when the accuser was 12. joining us to talk about the event is sarah ganim.

what do you know about the newest victims and his claims? >> don, what we know is that this man is now 19 years old. he was 12 in 2004 and a second mile child staying at the facilities in state college. he went to a swimming event with jerry sandusky and other children but was separated by sandusky, taken on a tour of the football building on penn state's campus, and eventually taken into an office where he alleges that jerry sandusky gave him whiskey, started talking to him about his life, how he ended up with the second mile charity, and then assaulted him. >> so these claims now, because jerry sandusky has so many charges against him, do we know at this point, are there going to be additional charges? because people are saying they're speculating there's going to be many more victims coming forward. does that mean the number of charges are raised then? >> well, you know, that's unclear. i think we'll have a better idea next week when we get to the preliminary hearing. don, by my count, five people

have come forward and made publically allegations since his arrest. we know they're talking to the police and attorney general's office. in some cases lawsuits have been filed. we know this is an ongoing investigation. i think by the preliminary hearing next tuesday we might have a better idea of if we're going to be having another preliminary hearing in the future with a new set of charges. at this point he only faces charges in criminal court for those original eight. >> sarah, appreciate it. thank you so much for joining us. syrian president is defending himself against global criticism of his government's bloody crackdown against protesters. in an interview mr. assad rejected reports that his troops are attacking civilians. >> there was no command to kill or to be brutal. >> people went from houses to houses. children were arrested. i saw those pictures. >> to be frank with you,

barbara, i don't care if you have video of this. we have to see. we don't see this so it depends on what you hear. >> i saw it reported, a reporter who brought back pictures. >> how did you verify those pictures? that's why we are talking about false allegations and distortion of reality. >> so whatever you see in front of your very eyes you're not supposed to believe. it really denies it. zain verjee, what you see, you shouldn't believe it? >> well, that's according to al assad and his world view of the united nations and the international. the syrian people themselves are painting a very different picture. al assad told barbara walters he did not order a crackdown and in fact it was his troops and his supporters that have been killed. listen to what else he had to say. >> we don't kill our people. no government kill its people unless it's led by crazy person.

i became president because of the public support. it's impossible for anyone in this state to give order to kill. >> do you feel guilty? >> i did my best to protect the people. you do not feel guilty when you do your best. >> what his argument there, don, is that i'm the president. i'm the one that decides policy, and he insists that he's not the one that actually gives the security forces and the army any kind of specific order. the state department reacted pretty quickly to this. the pokes person put it this way. i find it ludicrous that he is attempting to hide behind some kind of shell game but also some sort of claim that he doesn't exercise authority in his own country. last week there was a u.n. report that came out and said syria is in an undeclared civil war. al assad was asked that

question. he said, who said the u.n. is a credible institution. >> thank you so much. really appreciate it. back here in the u.s. we have travel delays with snow and subfreezing temperatures gripping parts of the south this morning. folks, in springfield, missouri, are waking up to temperatures in the upper teens after the season's first snowfall yesterday. even the southwest is seeing snowflakes and brutal temperatures that bottomed out below zero. rob marciano and the cnn severe weather center, what's going on? below zero. >> not just below zero, but as low as minus 21 degrees in new mexico. los vegas, new mexico, minus 9. these are today's or this morning's snowfalls across the mid south. tennessee seeing 4 inches. just near memphis seeing three inches. little rock and jones borrow seeing just under three inches.

here's where the snow is now. it's heading towards nashville. the rain will be changing to snow. it's snowing in northern mississippi. most will be rain across parts of the northeast. as it turns -- as the heavy rains move out, the cold air will move in. tonight's going to be a mess on the i 95 corridor from boston back through d.c. heavy, heavy rain and then heavy snow. new york and points north and westward could see anywhere from one to two to six to eight inches of snow. another early season snowstorm. this will be nothing compared to what we saw a couple of weeks ago that knocked out all of the power. record breaking temperatures in the south. even placeness southern california this morning are experiencing some chilly temps. >> congratulations. it's a little girl, right? >> yes. gorgeous. healthy. thank you very much. >> what a christmas present for the holidays.

when a myth buster stunt goes wrong, it really goes wrong. look what happened when a cannonball miss fired for the taping of the reality show. rod blagojevich is about to be sentenced for corruption. first he's expected to personally address the judge. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. long-lasting, too. yeah, i could really use this silverado. i'm a big hunter. oh, what do you hunt? deer. fish. fantastic. ♪ this holiday, chevy's giving more. now qualified buyers can get 0% apr for 72 months the holidays.

news across country right now. indiana's attorney general is offering money to victims of this stage college at the state fair. families of the seven people killed would get at least

$300,000. the 61 survivors would get 65% of their medical expenses paid. the stage collapsed after a storm hit during a sugarland concert. check out the holes in this house near oakland. they're from a cannonball. you don't see that everyday. the reality show myth busters was taping a stunt nearby. it involved a cannon. it didn't go as planned. luckily nobody was hurt. someone in spoke cane dropped a big surprise into that red kettle there. they found a diamond ring wrapped up in a dollar billion. worth $5,000. in a few moments the former illinois governor is back in court to be sentenced on federal corruption charges. among other things he was convicted of trying to sell president obama's old senate seat. >> i've got this thing, and

blooep blooep i'm not giving it up for nothing. >> remember that. the feds want him to do some hard time here. his lawyers and families have pleaded for leniency. ted rowlands live from chicago. what can we expect today in court? >> well, don, if yesterday was any indication, it doesn't look good for rod blagojevich. he ruled in favor of the prosecution yesterday. the prosecution in this case is asking for 15 to 20 years. the defense is asking for three years. it's expected the judge will come somewhere in the middle. now yesterday rod blagojevich's lawyers took turns. it was a tag team match. all three lawyers addressed the judge. they argued. they said, the crimes here don't dictate a 15 to 20-year sentence. what he did was wrong but he shouldn't be put away for that period of time. they also talked about his

family. they said, this is a guy with two young daughters and a wife that will miss him dearly. at one point the lead defense attorney said he doesn't deserve mercy because he has a family. his family deserves mercy. they also read a small portion of a letter that rod blagojevich's teenage daughter wrote to the judge saying in part, i need my father. i need him here. today we expect, don, when the hearing begins at 10:00 central time that prosecutors will argue the direct opposite. they'll say, listen, we feel bad that he's got a family. according to the law, that should not come into sentencing unless there is some extenuating circumstance which they'll argue there isn't. then we'll expect that rod blagojevich will go face to face with this judge. the judge has warned him that he plans on interrupting him and asking him questions if he does choose to address the court. we expect that to happen in just a few hours. >> tell us more about that because that's a question i wanted to ask you. this is the first time we'll hear from rod blagojevich during this process of the trial, and

he most likely will be a bit more mumbled than he usually is. i didn't know about the questioning part here, ted. >> reporter: yeah. we expect that he'll be a different rod blagojevich. even after the guilty verdict he came down and said this is wrong. i did nothing wrong. i did nothing wrong. we expect a much different scenario today. we do expect this judge to be hard on him, interrupting him, going back and forthwith questions that this judge will have for him. it will be almost like being cross examined, this time though you're being questioned by the man that really, literally holds your freedom in his hands. riveting day ahead. a little side note here. they're having this hearing in the spectator courtroom. it is packed. people in chicago very interested in this. there's a huge line of spectators from the public that will be in court today. >> yeah. as you're talking, we're looking at live pictures from the house on the north side of chicago

there. we are keeping watch because he's expected to leave and go to court. our ted rowlands is there. he is going to hear his fate today. the judge says, i'm going to interrupt you and ask you some questions. we're on rod blagojevich watch here. thank you, ted. it looks like chilly chicago this morning. coming up, we'll talk more about the missing u.s. spy drone. iran claims it shot the aircraft down. the u.s. claims it crashed because of technical failure. either way, the drone could be spilling its secrets. bank fees. many people hate them. most of us do. now one company has a solution. a way to avoid atm fees. we'll go to the new york stock exchange for all the details.

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iran claims it shot down a u.s. spy drone. officials in washington say it went down because its guided system failed. either way, the drone's secrets might be out now. analysts say the technology could be in russian or chinese hands. here's cnn pentagon's correspondent, chris lawrence.

>> reporter: when the u.s.'s newest stealth drone crashed, it may have sparked a shopping spree for america's potential adversaries. >> i'm guessing there was several people that tried to buy airline tickets to tehran from moscow and bay begin. >> reporter: analyst peter singer says if it's intact, the iranians will give the drone likely to china who can unlock the secrets and sell the completed technology back to iran. >> the chinese probably have one of the best technology gathering espionage services in the world. >> reporter: colonel sed drink layton says the missing drone is smarter, stealthier. on radar it comes across as being something other than it actually is. >> they show up very briefly, if at all. they show up perhaps in something that could be

disguised as let's say a flocks of birds or something like that or another type of aircraft. >> reporter: it flew surveillance over osama bin laden's compound in pakistan. if the technology is compromised, other countries will have better defenses against it. >> if they emulate us we will find it much more difficult to go after them and their air defenses as well as the assets that they're trying to protect. in the case of iran that would perhaps be their nuclear weapons systems. >> chris joins us. we're now hearing the u.s. believes the drone was badly damaged. how much can iran really do with it if it's damaged badly? >> yeah, don. think of it, if it's just fragments, how much could they really get out of that? again, when you consider that even the coating, the paint, so to speak, of this drone is very valuable, it's not so farfetched. remember, back in 1999 one of the u.s.'s first stealth planes

was shot down over serbia. chinese agents came in and bought pieces of that plane and then when china unveiled its own stealth plane earlier this year, some experts saw some american technology in that design. >> what sort of mission was this drone on? >> u.s. official says it was a c.i.a. mission. it was strictly to look for insurgents on the afghanistan side of the border. they say there was no intent to spy into iran. some experts dispute that saying this plane is specifically designed to operate where, say, reapers and predators, commonly used drones can't. it's designed to evade certain radar. we don't have radar and air defenseness afghanistan so they question why a plane of such sophistication would be used on the afghanistan side of the border just to look for

insurgents. >> thank you very much, chris. high on the list of things people hate most, bank fees. but a new company has an idea for a free atm. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange with the details. there's a catch, but i'm listening. i'm sure a lot of people are. what is it? >> there's always a catch, don. many people may say, you know what, this is worth it. if you want to get money out of an atm, you don't want to be charged that fee, guess what, you'll have to watch a little, little commercial. it's kind of like what happens at gas stations where you're pumping your gas. a little ad comes on. with this atm machine, this commercial actually plays while your transaction is processing, while your money is kind of coming out. it won't make this process any longer. we're going to put a picture up here for you. you're also going to get a receipt. it will have a coupon on it too of what the ad was just so you can take it with you. the company that came up with this idea is called free atms

nyc. there's only one atm in brooklyn. you've got to start somewhere with an idea. the plan here for this company is to add more, at least in the new york city area, within the next month, but this is a big but, don, so listen. these free atms in new york city, they won't charge you even if it is another bank's machine, but your bank still might. so you want to check those rules out first. hey, you know what, at least it gets rid of one side of that nasty, nasty fee. >> might be cheaper to go to brooklyn than it is to go to the regular atm. sometimes i look, whoa, how much was that? crazy. all right. alison, thanks. appreciate it. >> mitt romney says he's going to be aggressive with newt gingrich. maybe that's why he picked a kid rock song to be his campaign song. romney and rock, that's an interesting duo, isn't it? we're talking about that in our political buzz coming up.

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here are your top stories. we now know one american was among the dead in the bombing of a shiite shrine in kabul. it was one of two suicide attacks in afghanistan that killed 60 people yesterday. >> a 19-year-old man accuses penn state coach jerry sandusky of giving his whiskey and then sexually abusing him. the accuser says the alleged incident happened on the penn state campus in 2004 when the accuser was 12. there is a medicare open enrollment deadline today. medicare beneficiaries have until the end of the day to make changes to their prescription drug or private health plan. political buzz is your rapid

fire look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing today, cnn contributor maria cardona. cirrus xm talk show host and comedian, pete dominic. republican strategist and columnist share ri jakobus. you know i'm having a little fun with you, pete. you're always just out there. first question, it's not always easy being the front runner. i want you to listen to glenn beck's take on newt gingrich. >> would you rather have health insurance or post a bond. in some way you indicate you'll be accountable. >> that is the individual mandate? >> variation. >> you seem to be very interested in the government finding the solution. >> let's go back to what i just said. what i was asked was if a program is unpopular, should the republicans impose it anyway? go back and listen to exactly

what i was asked on that show and what i said i'll stand by. >> all right. newt gingrich is on top. time for the scrutiny. can he survive it from the right? maria? >> i hope so, don, because as a democrat, i would love to have gingrich as the gop nominee for president and have him go up against barak obama. i hope that they will be able to overlook his support of capping trade, his sitting down on the couch with nancy pelosi and doing an ad together on it. i hope that they'll be able to overlook the fact that he went up against and criticized the republican economic bible, the paul ryan plan calling it social right wing engineering. i hope that they'll be able to overlook his stance on immigration where he is calling for legalization of the 12 million. i hope sorks don. >> that's it. sherry, can he survive the scrutiny on the right? >> i think that this is actually a great gift for either newt gingrich or mitt romney, whoever the nominee is going to be. i think the democrats will

immediately try to take them and make them seem like this ultra conservative. here's why. you've got all of these democrats that came into the democratic party in 2008 in key battle ground states that are switching to become independents. you have a republican nominee who's going to be considered somewhat independent. conservatives might be a little wary but they'll vote for him. the democrats have to claim they're conservatives. it will be hilarious. >> peter? >> can newt gingrich survive the scrutiny from the right? you could argue, don lemon, that he didn't in 1998 when he said as speaker when he resigned in disgrace that he didn't want to preside over cannibals, look it up. i hate to generalize, but american voters don't really remember what happened yesterday, update unfortunately. what are they going to do, ask mitt romney to the prom or go alone? they're going to ask newt gingrich and i think people like glenn beck will be singing a different tune if gingrich is the nominee.

>> you had seconds to spare. you usually just go on and on and on and you didn't. go good job there, peter. you're learning. conan had a good time with president obama's job speech. >> i saw the speech that he made earlier today on the economy, and i just got that feeling that he's run out of ideas. take a look. >> take whatever you can from whomever you can. >> all right. that was good. that was good stuff, as they say. jokes aside though, is this focus now on the middle class, is it enough to get voters excited about president obama in

2012? cheri? >> i think the message from the beginning has been wrong. the redistribute the wealth. now he's telling people, you're on your own. go redistribute your own. what all republicans want to do and most americans is create wealth so you don't have to redistribute it. let everybody have a shot at the american dream rather than playing this game of class warfare and pitting one group against another. let everybody have a shot. his message is fail. he's a failed presidency. his presidency has failed. it's looking pretty good for republicans. >> there you go. maria? >> it's the republicans who have been saying time and again that the middle class is on their own, so i think president obama's message is right on. if you're part of the middle class, if you're part of the working class, which a majority of americans are, you're going to be excited about his campaign because he's going to be very starkly drawing the differences between a party that wants to protect the middle class and create jobs and a party who only wants to protect millionaires, billionaires and big corporations as the expense of middle class workers, seniors,

students and the most vulnerable in our societies. ask president clinton who created 20 million jobs with the same policies that president obama wants to push right now. >> my show we have a segment called no talking points. this shubd called talking points. that's what i'm hearing from the right, from the left. >> it will be the truth. i have talking points. >> not what the segment is built for. we should try to do that. pete? >> i'm not good enough to do talking points because i can't memorize this. i will say this about conan. he shows that you can truncate a speech to say anyone is saying whatever you want them to. i'm glad the president made the speech. his harshest critic has been clinton. this is the most important economic speech the president has ever given. little too late. this whole right, left, democrat, republican thing, divisive, it's about the system. unless you change the system, it

doesn't matter. strike at the root, don. >> i'll let you go. i'm a nice guy. i cut you off in the middle. >> no talking points, don. >> well, listen. you don't want to go there. i'll get in trouble for that. the truth is not ideological. listen, now your buzzer beater. 20 seconds each. mitt romney announces his campaign song, kid rock's "born free." listen. ♪ i was born free ♪ ♪ >> okay. maria, you first. what should newt gingrich's theme song be? >> first i came up with changes by david bowie. that would be better suited for romney. my song is a song called "breakfast at tiffany's". >> cheri, what should president obama's song be?

>> president obama's song should be the movie sound of music where the kids sing so long, father well song as they back up the stairs. they're not big enough and grown up enough to hang out with the grownouts at the party. even the one that's 16, going on 17. that's president obama's song. good-bye, farewell song. >> pete, what should ron paul's song be? >> ron paul's song? well, whatever song we choose for ron paul, it's got to be available to listen to on the victrola. maybe "don't you forget about me" by simple minds or maybe neil young's "old man." those are my suggestions. >> the guy who has the old 78 records? that's how old i am. none of you guys remember that. you're too young. >> do you have a victrola. >> anyway. >> we'll see about that. >> i had a remark but it might get me thrown off of tv.

>> take it to twitter. >> i appreciate it. have a great day. he is no stranger to controversial headlines. actor alec baldwin was kicked off an airplane last night. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal.

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actor alec baldwin is making headlines again for what he's doing off screen instead of on camera he got kicked off a plane for apparently refusing to stop playing a game on his cell phone. kareen wynter, it's interesting. when i first heard this, i didn't believe it. i said, is this some sort of secret advertisement for words

with friends that alec is not telling us about? it seems like overkill. it seems like much to do about nothing. >> well, anything that alec does, he's sometimes a lightning rod, oftentimes, it makes headlines. in this case, you know, don, alec, he wasn't ready. give him an hour or two, he would have been good to go. alec wasn't ready to stop playing words with friends. american airlines flight attendant told him he had to turn off his electronic device which would have ended his game. he refused and was forced to get off his flight. we know via twitter that his fellow passengers, they were not too pleased by being held up with this. baldwin is not afraid to sound off when he's fighting mad about something. he tweeted. he wrote flight attendant on american reooemd me out for playing. no wonder american is bankrupt. american airlines, they rebooked him on another flight a short time later. baldwin wasn't done. oh, no, he fired off a few more

scathing tweets about american airlines and their employees. yeah, he had to get it out there. again, everything he does makes headlines. i have to ask you, okay, so the last hour we chatted. you said that you had to get your words with friends password fixed. you mentioned that you had a little bit of technical issues there. is it all good? are you going to challenge alec now? i'm sure he'll be up for it. >> i'm going to challenge alec and go back to my old games, with some of the guys out in l.a., then i'll send you a request as well. you're supposed to do what the flight attendants say, i understand. it seems like overkill. okay, enough. >> all the paparazzi and everyone getting him coming off. love the story. it's alec. >> alec, he's an actor so it'll be fine. appreciate it kareen wynter. want more information on everything breaking in the entertainment world. more headlines on "showbiz tonight" 11:00 eastern on hln. quarterback cam newton sets

an nfl record and the football he carried has a place in the hall of fame. newton gave the ball it a fan. we'll tell you how the problem was solved next. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. ♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. nfl players sometimes toss a football into the stands after a touchdown. when cam newton did it on sunday it led to an awkward moment. don riddell is in london with that story. what happened, don?

>> don, you'll know that many people live in suburban america will be very familiar with the phrase, can i have my ball back? it usually involves little kid standing at your door having booted his ball across the fence. it was slightly different when it happened in the nfl over the weekend. cam newton scored a touchdown and he went to the crowd and handed a 16-year-old girl, peggy brown, the ball. it wasn't any old ball, don, he scored his 13th rushing touchdown of the season which was an nfl record. he may or may not have realized that at the time, but the equipment team did realize this was actually quite a special ball. so they decided to go to this girl and say, can we have our ball back? because it's rather special. cam would probably want it. fortunately, she was really good about it. she was so touched that he gave her the thing in the first place that she accepted. she says, you know what, it's his achievement. he deserves it. in return she got a kicking tea,

a ball, four hats and she's going to get something in the mail. i think everybody's hoping cam will have signed it. >> that's very nice. all's well that ends well, don. let's talk about another running quarterback, a high school player who learned a very tough lesson, didn't he? >> i don't think he'll ever forget this lesson until the day he dies. this is incredible. we're talking about cathedral high school here playing in what was effectively their super bowl championship game. matt owens who no less was celebrating his 18th birthday runs in what he thought was the game-winning touchdown just a few minutes from the end. do you notice anything unusual about this, don? that looks pretty standard. a player running towards the touchdown, towards the end zone. he's going to score. he raised his hand to celebrate and would you believe the massachusetts interscholastic athletic association has a rule which bans any unsportsman like

conduct including taupting. the referee at that game thought he was taunting the opposition. he red flagged it, disallowed the touchdown and he didn't count it and they lost the game. i think that's outrageous. >> you have a perfect season, scoring a touchdown, you can be excited about it. who wouldn't, right? thank you, don. >> absolutely. >> appreciate it. great name, by the way. don't read too much into president obama's graying hair. a new study undercuts a popular notion of president obama aging in office. the story ahead. coming up, on the 70th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor, we'll talk to a veteran. great gay. decorated u.s. army medic and the son of japanese immigrants. - ♪ bum-bum - ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum - ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ] ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] ♪ [ vocalizing up-tempo heavy metal song ]

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this next story we're going to do deserves your attention so please pay attention. if you're at work, put down the work. if you're at home, pay attention. today marks the 70th anniversary that will mark the date of something that will live on. more than 2400 people were killed in the japanese attack. we'll go live. december 7th, 1941 was a day jimmy will never forget. as a u.s. army medic, he was caught in the middle of the chaos that erupted. he retired as a colonel. he joins us now from washington state. thank you, sir. it is an honor to be able to speak with you today. you're 91, going on 92. amazing. so, colonel, you enlisted in april of 1941. months later pearl harbor was

attacked. tell us about that day. >> well, that was a day in infamiliary as our president stated. for me, it changed my whole life. it changed the life of my parents, brothers and sisters. that was the day that i started my whole real career in the military. >> do you think that people today appreciate the military men and women, what they went through during world war ii? >> yes, i think they really appreciate it. we were recently awarded the congressional medal for our achievement in world war ii to put up with all the persecution and the pressure placed upon us. >> colonel, do you feel like a hero, silver, bronze stars among other decorations? >> yes, i received the silver star and three bronze stars. that was for my combat medical service during the war. i might add that it's no more

than any other combat medic and i did in our unit. we all did our job and the old saying goes, we conserved the fighting strength. >> i ask you because most people went off and served their country back in that time, you had to do it. we were at war. a lot of people are doing it now. what i asked before, do you feel like a hero by doing that? >> no, i don't consider myself a hero. didn't do any more than what anybody else would have done. i was a career man and i really had to perform to the best of my ability. that's what i did. it was something that came natural, i think, after being indoctrinated through basic training and medical training i had. it came real natural to me. i'm certainly appreciating the fact that i was given the opportunity and to be able to live through it was quite a fete myself. i find myself still alive and

kicking at this old age. >> it's great that you are. listen, time on the planet. there's nothing like t. there's nothing like that wisdom that goes along with it. you've had 91, almost 92 years of it. what are your words of advice, wisdom, not only to today's military men and women, but to americans in general? >> i would say that most important of all, stay loyal to your unit, and secondly, gain all of the education you can. if you want to stay in the service, you need the credentials of educational degrees and qualifications. that will prove to the military that you want to stay in and to prove yourself. most importantly, again, stay clean. don't get involved in some of the off-duty activities that many of our men get involved in. be loyal to your unit. >> colonel, i am honored that you are here.

we appreciate your sacrifice. best of luck to you and your wife. thank you again for your sacrifice. >> thank you for having me on. we'll be right back. to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you had me at "probiotic." ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪

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dose." don't believe everything you see when it comes to the obvious gray hair and wrinkles that come with being president of the united states. a new study suggests presidents tend to live longer, sometimes significantly longer than the average american men. two-thirds of our commanders in chief lived past their projected life spans. well, wealth, education, and access to health care are cited as factors for longevitiy. live a long time. and speaking of the president now. one of the most popular pop artists on the planet managed to sneak into the white house for a meeting yesterday with no pop pa rats si. brianna keilar will tell us about the meeting with lady gaga. i thought we were going to talk about something else with the president. this is cool too. >> reporter: yeah, no, it's all gaga. i wanted to tell you first, don, why lady gaga was here. i know you want to talk about what she was wearing. we did catch some video of her

as she left this meeting at the white house. it was pretty sedate, actually. a white skirt suit. she had pretty low key hair and makeup. clearly, a very long, blond wig. the kicker, i know we have a picture of this coming up here, were her shoes. i think they were 7-inch platform heels. you can't see them. if you were to sort of go down on that photo you would see 7-inch heels which were pretty difficult to walk on on the d.c. sidewalk. lady gaga was here at the white house. she met with white house officials, not the president, because he was in kansas giving his economic speech. she was here to talk about her pet cause, bullying. she was discussing the topic with the